Superintelligence asks the questions: What happens when machines surpass humans in general intelligence? Will artificial agents save or destroy us? Nick Bostrom lays the foundation for understanding the future of humanity and intelligent life.

The human brain has some capabilities that the brains of other animals lack. It is to these distinctive capabilities that our species owes its dominant position. If machine brains surpassed human brains in general intelligence, then this new superintelligence could become extremely powerful—possibly beyond our control. As the fate of the gorillas now depends more on humans than on the species itself, so would the fate of humankind depend on the actions of the machine superintelligence.

But we have one advantage: we get to make the first move. Will it be possible to construct a seed Artificial Intelligence, to engineer initial conditions so as to make an intelligence explosion survivable? How could one achieve a controlled detonation?

This profoundly ambitious and original book breaks down a vast track of difficult intellectual terrain. After an utterly engrossing journey that takes us to the frontiers of thinking about the human condition and the future of intelligent life, we find in Nick Bostrom's work nothing less than a reconceptualization of the essential task of our time.

Nick Bostrom is Professor in the Faculty of Philosophy at Oxford University and founding Director of the Future of Humanity Institute and of the Program on the Impacts of Future Technology within the Oxford Martin School. He is the author of some 200 publications, including Anthropic Bias (Routledge, 2002), Global Catastrophic Risks (ed., OUP, 2008), and Human Enhancement (ed., OUP, 2009). He previously taught at Yale, and he was a Postdoctoral Fellow of the British Academy. Bostrom has a background in physics, computational neuroscience, and mathematical logic as well as philosophy.

Copies of Bostrom’s book, Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies will be available for purchase and signing at the event for $20.

After his engagement with C2ST, Bostrom is scheduled to speak at the Microsoft Research Lab,

Google Headquarters and the Machine Intelligence Research Institute at UC Berkeley.

The IEEE Technology Management Council and the IEEE Computer Society announce a joint meeting with the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) and the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE)

This presentation explores the current landscape of patent eligibility, including Federal Circuit and Supreme Court decisions on eligible subject matter under 35 USC 101. This presentation also provides suggestions for how to prepare patent applications in view of the current landscape, including recommendations for the specification, claims, and drawings.

Please see the attached PDF for full details and how to register for the meeting

CODEBREAKER tells the story of one of the most important people of the 20th century. Alan Turing set in motion the computer age and his World War II codebreaking helped save two million lives. Yet few people have heard his name, know his tragic story, or understand his legacy. In 1954, Turing committed suicide at age 41 after being forced to undergo chemical castration to “fix” his sexual orientation. He left behind a lasting legacy and lingering questions about what else he might have accomplished if society had embraced his unique genius instead of rejecting it.

Join the Computer Science Teachers Association in bringing a screening of this movie to Chicago.

The movie will premiere in Chicago on December 6th [details below] if there are 50 reservations. You can follow the link below to the reservation page.

Get some hands-on experience with soldering and electronics at our Beginner's Arduino Workshop. For the first time, Flourish! Conference has partnered with Pumping Station: One ( http://pumpingstationone.org/ ) to provide a workshop to learn how to program Arduino chips. Arduino has been used to create some cool projects ranging from a miniature

Flourish! is organized by the Computer Science department of the University of Illinois at Chicago's (UIC's) College of Engineering, as well as the University's Linux user group and chapter of the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM). The conference is sponsored in part by fused.com, Google, Linux Journal, Linux Pro Magazine, Spantree Technology Group, Orbitz, Dotomi, and nextag.

If you would like to become a part of us financially, we would be delighted. Sponsorship has helped us quite a bit in the past with providing attendees more interactive pieces to the conference, like social networking events, workshops, and other mini-events.

Do check out the sponsorship page here for more about what could be possible with any help in this vein:

The sixth annual BARcamp Chicago "Unconference" will be held on July
9th & 10th at the community makerspace Pumping Station: One. BARcamp
Chicago is a great place to learn new skills, network with the best of
Chicago's tech community and maybe even get a head start on founding
your own business. But unlike regular conferences, at BARcamp it is
the attendees who hold the talks and run the activities. If you are a
technology enthusiast and have a desire to teach or learn, BARcamp
Chicago is an event you will not want to miss.
Right now we are trying to get an idea of who is planning to attend
this year. While registration is not required, if you are planning to
attend we would appreciate it if you sign up on our EventBrite:
http://barcampchicago.eventbrite.com/.
If you would like more information about BARcamp Chicago, our website
is http://www.barcampchicago.org/. If you would like to provide
suggestions about what you want and don't want to see at this year's
BARcamp, please do so at http://barcampchicago.uservoice.com/.
Finally, if you are interested in helping plan BARcamp Chicago, please
sign up on our planning list here:
http://groups.google.com/group/barcamp-chicago/.
BARcamp is only possible by generous contributions from sponsors. If
your company is interested in sponsoring BARcamp Chicago, please
e-mail Kevin at kharriss@barcampchicago.org.

It is clear that video games have become a huge part of our world and have a tremendous influence in our society. Pioneers of the industry are redefining the medium. This event is showcasing the wide variety of thoughts, discussion and research from those pioneers.

April 30, 2011, 8:30 am

KIVA Lecture Hall @ ASU West

4701 W. Thunderbird Road, Glendale, AZ 85306

What is TEDx? In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TED has created a program called TEDx.

TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. Our event is called TEDxASUWest, where x=independently organized TED event. At our TEDxASUWest event, TEDTalks video and live speakers will combine to spark deep discussion and connection about the future of video games.

WindyCityGo is Chicago's mobile developers conference where
Android, iOS, and mobile web developers will learn how to create better
mobile apps and how to sell them effectively. Developers, designers,
entrepreneurs, and investors all find value in WindyCityGo.

All-day activities: Drop by
the Groupon Octagon to pair with Groupon's world-class mobile dev team.
Visit the ThoughtWorks conversation space to learn how mobile apps are
impacting lives in the developing world. If you're a mobile designer or
developer with a great app, and if you want to build a steady supply of
customers for your app, go to WindyCityGo. If you're an entrepreneur or
investor looking to build an outstanding technical team, go to
WindyCityGo.

WindyCityGo will be held on Saturday, April 9, 2011 at the Westin Chicago River North. Visit http://windycitygo.org for details.